Sunday, November 13, 2016

Chidinma Okeke Alleged Sex Scandal- ABS MD Claims It Was Used To Settle Political Scores

Over the weekend, embattled Miss Anambra 2015 winner, Chidinma Okeke spoke to The Nation on the recent lesbian sex tape released a couple of weeks ago, featuring her and another lady.

She accused Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS),
the organisers of the pageantry, of persuading her to engage in lesbian
sex in front of a camera for her to emerge as the winner.

She alleged that ever since she won, she became a slave, as the organisers have been using the videos to blackmail her.

She debunked claims that she had planned to commit suicide, adding that her blackmailers have stopped contacting her

“Early last year, the ABS advertised for the Miss Anambra beauty pageant. I heard of it and went to make enquiry.

My
roommate was also interested, but one of the organisers told me to
apply. I told them I was not interested but the man insisted that I
might win the competition. He also promised to give me the form for free
if I indicated interest, and he did when I agreed to contest.

But one Jane
told me that before a winner would be declared, there were certain
things to be done, including the (sex) video. I consented after some
persuasion from the organisers. I later went for the contest at the
Marble Arch Hotels in Awka, and I was declared winner with a Kia Rio
vehicle as star prize.

When
I went for my car after the contest, the organisers brought out a
contract form for me to sign, but I told them I wanted to contact my
lawyer to see it. I was not given the opportunity to do so.

What
they kept telling me was that if I insisted on not signing the contract
or wanted to contact my lawyer, they would release the video.

At
that point, I became uncomfortable and signed the contract to avoid
such embarrassment, and the car was released to me from where it was
packed within the premises of ABS.

From
that moment, I became a slave to them. On October 11, 2016, they called
me to come and make presentations inside the office of one the
organisers. After that, the man excused some people in that room and
showed me the video again.

They
told me to drop my car and removed my crown from me. I told them I
would take the car as stipulated in the contract. They insisted I should
pack it in the premises of (ABS).

I
told my uncle in Abuja about the situation. My uncle called them and
asked them to release my car to me. Instead, they forwarded the video to
him as part of the blackmail. That was what happened,” Chidinma said.

She also denied that she is a lesbian.

Following the interview, the Managing Director of ABS, Uche Nworah,
in a statement on his Facebook page insisted Okeke lied. He alleged
that some persons were using the sex scandal to settle political scores
in Anambra state.

He shared a photo of the signed contract and wrote:

There is an Igbo saying that the more you repeat a lie, at some point people may begin to believe that it is the truth.

On this former Miss Anambra sex
scandal, the management of the Anambra Broadcasting Service had
previously released a press statement disassociating the organisation
from it. We still stand on that statement.

We have also made statements on the
matter to the law enforcement authorities. We understand that Miss
Chidinma Okeke has also made statements to the law enforcement
authorities, so we eagerly await their findings.

It is however important that I
correct certain statements that are being made on this forum and in
other fora especially concerning the interview Miss Chidinma Okeke
granted the Nation newspaper today.

There appears to be an agenda to
push falsehood to the public and in so doing malign me and the Anambra
Broadcasting Service over a matter that we know nothing about. It
appears that our silence over the matter, except the press statement we
issued earlier is now being exploited by those who are bent on using the
Miss Anambra sex scandal to settle political scores in Anambra state.

It would also appear that Miss Chidinma Okeke has become a pawn in a larger politically motivated conspiracy.

The ABS as a socially responsible
organisation fulfilled to the letter every part of the contract signed
with Miss Chidinma Okeke, former Miss Anambra. This includes paying ALL
her prize money of the sum of one million Naira only.

This was paid in instalments in line
with the contract. An initial sum of N500,000 was paid to her after she
signed her contract and the balance of N500,000 was paid in N50,000
instalments over a 10 month period.

She collected her last installment
of N50,000 on the 11th of October 2016, the day she handed over the
crown to the organisers. We have records of her signing for all the
payments.

We had to take the measure of
inviting the former Miss Anambra to the office on this date as that was
the day an anonymous individual had forwarded the videos to myself and
some other persons I do not know accusing the former queen of being a
lesbian.

The person said he was in possession
of such similar videos numbering over 10 allegedly showing the former
queen in lesbian acts, as well as her friends in the lesbian video
performing sexual acts with men.

Details of these WhatsApp messages
have been made available to the law enforcement authorities. We took
this decision as we did not want the brand to be smeared with such a
scandal as contained in Clause 1 of the contract.

After the handover of the crown by
Miss Chidinma Okeke to the Miss Anambra project executives in the
presence of the ABS management in the office of the ABS MD/CEO, I
dismissed all the other members of the management with the exception of
the ABS lawyer and one of the Miss Anambra project executives. I went on
to show Miss Chidinma Okeke the videos I had received that day from the
anonymous individual and the messages from the person, I then asked her
if she had any knowledge of the video and she said yes. I advised her
to go home and confide in her family. I have not seen nor spoken to her
since that day as I do not know her whereabouts.

Miss Chidinma Okeke was not forced to sign the contract under duress as alleged, rather a certain Nwakonobi Ifeanyi
who is married to her sister and acting as her guardian co-signed with
her after they had taken the contract home, studied and consulted over
it.

As a respectable pageant, we have
certain rules and regulations guiding participation in the pageant and
conduct of the queen during her reign. During her one year reign, we
supported Miss Chidinma Okeke the very best way we could including
sponsoring her to represent Nigeria in the Miss Intercontinental pageant
which held in Frankfurt Germany in December 2015. We sponsored her
alongside one of the contestants who represented São Tomé. This was our
way of creating opportunities for them and opening doors to
international fame and modelling. Though not stated in the contract but
we also secured a free unlimited one year business class return tickets
to any destination in Nigeria for her and her chaperon from one of our
airline sponsors.

There is no iota of truth in the
allegation that ABS is blackmailing Chidinma Okeke over monies realised
at her birthday party. As our reigning queen, we organised a birthday
party for her and used the occasion to present to the public her pet
project. The event was co-sponsored by her uncle who was also at the
event alongside veteran Nollywood actor, Sir Obi Okoli who did not stay
till the end. Miss Chidinma Okeke and her uncle can testify that no
money was realised at the event as it was not a fund raising. Rather,
the guests that spoke encouraged her with words.

The Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant
platform is indeed a wonderful one. There is nothing wrong with the
pageant. We have had winners and participants on the platform who have
gone on to do big things in their lives and modelling careers. The
pageant is solely private sector funded. The state government does not
sponsor the pageant so please do not believe the false story that the
Anambra state government spends millions of Naira sponsoring the
pageant.

If you live in Awka or Anambra
state, you will confirm that it is usually a big event which generates a
lot of excitement and buzz. As an organisation, the pageant generates
entertainment content and some revenue for the ABS.

From the audition to the final event
itself, the contestants are treated with the highest respect, courtesy
and dignity. They sign a document detailing dos and donts and pledge to
be of good conduct and behaviour both during camp and during the reign
of the eventual winner. In the past, the organisers have had to dismiss
some finalists from camp for misconduct, one for giving her number out
to a hotel guest where they are camped and another for being rude to
fellow contestants and the chaperon.

The pageant is judged to the highest
standard. The judges are usually former acclaimed national beauty
queens and showbiz personalities. The pageant overall is managed by a
Pageant Creative Director who is a former Miss Nigeria. We take every
care to ensure that we deliver a good show every year.

There are no preconditions of
appearing in a sex video to contest in the Miss Anambra pageant. We have
had hundreds of contestants on the pageant and they can testify to
that. It makes no sense to try to blame the organisers over an act that
is as a result of one’s folly and greed. If perhaps the said Miss
Chidinma Okeke fell victim to conmen who tricked her into believing that
she will win a beauty pageant if she appears in a sex video, if she
goes ahead and participates in the said video and the conmen turn around
to blackmail her and extort money from her with the sex video, how can I
or the ABS be blamed for that? Did the other participants and
contestants on the show suffer the same fate?

Regarding the issue of the Miss
Anambra vehicle, in line with clause 10 of the contract, the vehicle is
an official car which the organisers reserve the right to withdraw at
the end of the queen’s reign. It does appear that the issue of the car
is what concerns the former queen the most as statements to the media by
her father, and even text messages to me and discussions from people
from her camp suggest so but clearly as can be seen from the contract,
the ABS acted as per contract signed.

It is obvious that those who have
been at the forefront pushing this falsehood and allegation that I, Uche
Nworah or the ABS has anything to do with this have ulterior motives.

Photo of the signed Contract

In this day and age of social media,
it is now easy for anybody to manufacture falsehood and post on social
media for the unsuspecting public to read, like and share but in the end
truth triumphs.